A Child's Voice
by long live marshmallows
Summary: IN PROGRESS: Now a series of unrelated oneshots starring AU ChibiCast! Chapter 1: Lal Mirch, instructor for COMSUBIN's trainees, did not expect to encounter Colonnello, the trainee from hell. Neither did she expect him to become her new neighbour. That, she could deal with. But when he takes on the job as Sawada Tsunayoshi's babysitter...it changes things.
1. The Trainee

**Please read:**

I was insane when I said that I'll have my new story finished by September. There's no doubt about it. But I still want to be able to update consistently, so I won't start posting in the fall. I don't know how long it will take me to finish it but hopefully by or before next summer since I plan to focus on my first year of post-secondary school (LOL At first I wrote 'secondary school'by accident...no, I'm not entering high school! I just finished it. Not going back again).

So instead I will give you, my dearest readers, this oneshot as an early apology.

**From your insane author,**

_**LLM**_

* * *

**A Child's Voice**

_ONESHOT_

…

Slight AU.

* * *

A shriek penetrated through the walls dividing her apartment from her neighbour's. Lal's brow twitched as she tried to focus on the current paperwork she was trying to complete for COMSUBIN. Why didn't the previous trainer warn her about this side of the job description? If the man wasn't dead already, she would hunt the man down and feed him a round of bullets.

The child shrieked again.

"_Wanna go higher?"_ said a male voice with a laugh. _"Here we go, kora!"_

Lal let out a low, dangerous growl as the child let out another scream of joy. "I swear, if that boy screams again I will kill that damn trainee."

"_Up you go!"_

And the child squealed.

"That's it!" Lal slammed her hands on her desk. She had two stacks of paperwork on both sides of the table. One side was the completed ones. That side was thinner than the other one. _Significantly_ so. But there was nothing she could do about it until she shut that kid up. Somehow.

She marched to her door and flung it open. Not caring if it was wide open—after all, who in their right mind would want to steal from Lal Mirch?—she slammed her fist into the door of her neighbour.

"_COLLONELLO, YOU BASTARD, OPEN THE DAMN DOOR!"_

The kid grew quiet as Lal finished "knocking".

"_Lal?"_

"Open up," Lal ordered. "Right now."

"_Yes ma'am!"_ Colonnello shouted from somewhere within. She tapped a foot on the carpeted floor and crossed her arms over her chest as she waited. Two seconds later, the door opened to reveal one of her more annoying trainees, Colonnello.

He was wearing a white t-shirt and his green army pants. Wrapped around his blond hair was his ever-present green bandana.

Attached to left hip was a baby who looked around three. A very annoying brat with spiky brown hair and brown eyes smiled shyly at her.

Just as she was about to glare at the brat, she heard a wolf whistle come from her trainee. She glared at him instead.

"What are you whistling about?" she demanded.

Colonnello chose not to answer and decided to continue staring. Lal looked down at herself and flushed scarlet when she realised what she was wearing. Usually she didn't think twice about what people saw her wearing but this wasn't just _anyone. _Colonnello was her _trainee_. She was wearing her black shorts and a tank top which was her usual wear when she was off duty.

It was never something she let any—_any_ of her trainees see her in. And it was certainly not something Lal Mirch would get embarrassed over.

She slapped Colonnello's head smartly and punched his chin to get his eyes facing forward again.

"Get that kid to shut up or else I will beat the crap out of you!" Lal hissed, face still slightly red.

Colonnello recovered instantly. "But Lal—" she glared at him and he quickly corrected himself. "—I mean ma'am, look at how adorable he is, kora! How can you say such a thing? He's so cute, no one can resist letting him have some fun, kora!"

He lifted the child by the armpits and shoved him forward until he was nose to nose with Lal.

Lal leaned backwards in surprise as her eyes locked with those brown ones. She and the brat stared at each other for a few seconds before she tore her gaze away.

"Get him out of my face, Colonnello!"

"You see? He's just so _adorable,_ aren't you, kora?" Colonnello said and tossed Sawada Tsunayoshi into the air.

Lal's mouth opened in a silent shout. She even stepped forward before stopping herself. Colonnello had caught the boy easily in his arms.

"What do you think you're doing!?" Lal yelled at him.

"What, kora?" Colonnello and the brat looked at her innocently.

"That's Iemitsu's son, isn't it?" Lal hissed. "What do you think the Vongola would do to you if you get the Young Lion's son killed? How the hell did you get involved with the Mafia in the first place?"

"Calm down, kora! I didn't know that you cared for me so much, kora!" he said with waggling eyebrows.

Lal glared at him again. "D-Don't be an idiot! Anyway, stop making such a ruckus!

"Gaaaa…" the brat babbled with a smile. "Gwaa!"

"…What's the brat saying?"

"…I have no idea, kora."

Lal and the brat ended up looking at each other again but this time Lal gave him a solid glare. The brat's smile wavered and he balled his little fists into Colonnello's shirt. It whimpered and its eyes began to tear up.

Colonnello made some cooing noises that didn't help at all.

"Are you scared of Lal? Don't be, there's nothing to be scared of, Tsuna!" He bounced the baby a bit which seemed to calm it down.

Lal bunched up her nose and stepped out of the apartment completely. "That brat's not going to live to the age of fourteen if he's so scared of a little glare like that."

Colonnello laughed and beamed at Lal. "He has many years until then to learn, kora!"

"W-Whatever. Just keep him quiet; my threat still stands," she said and walked to her own apartment.

Colonnello, still holding Tsuna, leaned against his doorframe and watched Lal stalk away and slam the door shut. He looked at Tsuna and grinned.

"Now that was Lal Mirch, the most badass woman you'll ever meet. You'll be seeing her often _kora_, if Iemitsu still wants me to be his part-time babysitter."

Tsuna laughed and tugged at Colonnello's hair.

"Whoa! Okay little guy, let's go and find something fun to play, _kora_!"

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**_-LLM_**

**_Published 2014-08-13th_**


	2. Cops and Robbers

**Cops and Robbers**

_ONESHOT_

_..._

**REMINDER: **THESE ONESHOTS ARE _NOT _CONNECTED TO EACH OTHER IN ANY WAY, NOR DO THEY FOLLOW ANY PARTICULAR ORDER (I literally stole this reminder from _Power of Vongola Decimo._)

**SUMMARY: **I don't have summaries for these...they're so short that you'll probably finish reading the story before the summary's meaning settles in. So instead, I'll go by prompts...

**PROMPT: **Statue

**CHARACTERS: **Colonnello, Lal Mirch

* * *

"This is taking too long!"

Eight year old Lal Mirch looked at the boy sitting beneath her statue by the harbour's park. She didn't care much for him, except that the boy was disturbing her time with the statue. The statue was of a woman sitting on her horse, with both horse and woman looking forward at their unseen target. Lal herself was perched on the horse in front of its rider. She gave the horse a small pat as she looked at the boy from her position.

Lal couldn't see much of him, only his blond hair and crossed arms and legs. He was looking toward the harbour and letting out small grunts of impatience every so often.

It got to a point where it was starting to annoy her, so she called down to him, "Shut up already!"

...

Colonnello sprang to his feet and narrowed his eyes to look at the unfamiliar girl who had shouted.

She looked around his age but he couldn't be sure. There was something about her that made him think that she was older than she looked. Maybe her scowl also had something to do with it. Being on the streets all day looking for money and for food, Colonnello was used to seeing adults glaring at him, but her glare was sharper than all others. Even so, he wasn't about to let on that he was intimidated. Colonnello's first rule of the streets: Never show fear unless it's shown on purpose.

He pointed a finger at her. "Ah! You just said a bad word!"

...

Lal smirked at the boy when he stopped talking to himself. Guess that new word really does work! "It stopped you from talking, didn't it?"

The boy crossed his arms again and said, "It's still a bad word. You're not supposed to use them."

Lal rolled her eyes.

"Who are you, anyway?" the boy asked.

Lal slid off the horse and landed on her hands and feet. "I'm Lal Mirch."

"Colonnello," the boy said.

They fell into silence with both of them sitting at the base of the statue. "What are you waiting for?" Colonnello asked.

Lal smirked. "Who said I was waiting for something?"

"Why else were you sitting up there?" Colonnello demanded.

Lal shrugged. "It's a good spot. A good...vantage point!"

"Vantage point," Colonnello repeated with a sceptical look. The girl was probably trying to be all high and mighty. As if a child would need a good vantage point. For what?

"And you?" Lal asked when his stare started to bother her. "Clearly you're upset."

"I'm waiting for friends! They're supposed to be here by now." Rather than annoyed, Colonnello was starting to look anxious and even a bit worried.

Lal patted his head. "Whatever. They're just late," she said.

Colonnello's hand flew to his head. "W-What was that about?"

Lal sputtered. "It's a sign of comfort, idiot! Don't you know anything? See if I do it again!"

He'd only met her for a few minutes but he already got the feeling that she usually didn't show affection of any kind to anyone. He laughed. Oh well. Might as well take it. Colonnello leaned over and ruffled her own short locks of hair until it was as untidy as his own.

"Stop that!"

Colonnello continued to smile. "Do you want to play cops and robbers?"

Lal leaned forward slightly and then frowned. "It's not fun when there are only two people," she said.

"You're just scared that I'll catch you," Colonnello taunted.

Lal's eyes widened. "Oh, you are _so_ in trouble. Cop! Called it! You've been found stealing jewellery from the museum!"

Colonnello leaped to his feet the same instant Lal did. "Yeah? Well I have one of those retractable rope-things and I'm flying through the glass roof! I get a fifteen-second head start!" With that, he was off.

They ran through the harbour, slipping past adults and sailors alike, dodging and leaping over luggage and around the vendors. They played so many scenarios that sometimes they merged and left the children confused. Finally, they returned to the statue just as Colonnello spotted a boat coming into the harbour. "Hey! My friends are here!"

Lal's eyes followed his pointing finger and scowled at the boat. "They look shifty."

"Well, yeah," Colonnello said as though it was obvious. "They're a gang. We deliver stuff. It keeps us from going hungry. That's all that matters," he added in case she started to think less of him, like how other people did when they figured out he was part of a gang.

Lal had a thoughtful expression on her face.

He crossed his arms. "What? You've got something to say?"

"No," Lal said. "I've never met someone who's part of a gang."

Colonnello gaped at her. "Really?" It didn't seem possible. He grew up with them his whole life! How could anyone _not _know someone who was in a gang?"

"_Obviously_, I know they exist."

"But you've never _met_ a gang before!?"

"Didn't I say that already? You're annoying!"

Colonnello smiled. "Hey, you met me!" He spread his arms with a laugh. "Hello! I'm Colonnello, and I'm the first gang member you met. Not bad, right?"

Lal rolled her eyes and smiled. "You don't make a bad robber."

"But I get to be the cop next time! Promise?"

"Promise."

They shook pinkies and Lal glanced at the clock tower. "I should go home now."

"Are you coming tomorrow?" Colonnello asked.

Lal shrugged. "I guess. I've got nothing better to do. Ciao."

Colonnello waved until Lal was out of sight, and then he ran to greet his family.

**THE END**

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**A/N: **LOL So this did end up being a series. Which means all you guys who followed this when I labelled it as a oneshot are time-travellers. Good on you. Where'd you get the TARDIS?

This series isn't only about Lal and Colonello. They just happened to be in chapter 2 as well.

* * *

_-LLM_

_**Published 2016-11-15th**_


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